I got a Sony Ericsson K800i from Vodafone late last year.  Now these things are sold as being "free", but they're not, you pay through the nose for them through the life of your contract.

Many aspects of the phone were heavily customised by Vodafone to have their 'look and feel' but in the process they dramatically degraded the functionality of the phone, making it frustrating and unpleasant to use.  An example was that while typing a text message, if you accidentally bumped either the camera button or the lens cover, it would switch into camera mode.  This is VERY annoying!  Another thing they'd done was to change the answer/hangup buttons to be the tiny buttons on either side.  WHY?

Last night I debranded it myself using Davinci.com for £8 using their free software and the cable that came with the phone.  Money well spent.  The phone is now generic, with functionality as Sony Ericsson carefully designed it after years of development, and much more pleasing to use.

I tried my boss's TomTom 700 one night a week ago, to see what it was like.  It amazed me instantly, showing the names of the streets I was passing, and the road ahead - i could even see how tight corners were and which bit of the roundabout i was on.

I was hooked!  I bought it from him, and then updated it with new maps, voices (John Cleese!) and speed camera alerts.  It also links into my phone to give me bluetooth handsfree functionality, and I can download traffic and weather updates on the move using my phone's GPRS internet connection.

Anyway, this morning was the first time i'd used it to take roads i didn't know, as i explored an alternative route to work.  It makes your driving dramatically safer, when you're unsure of where you're going.  You're able to choose the correct lane in confidence ahead of a roundabout for instance and know that if you do take a wrong turn, it will guide you back on track.

I had thought these things were a bit pointless, how wrong could I be.